Multi-Player Board Game

ABSTRACT

A board game device and method of playing the board game. The board game includes a playing surface having a plurality of spaces connected by lines that indicate allowable paths of travel for game pieces. The playing surface further includes a plurality of base zones on which a player&#39;s queens are positioned to start the game. Players take turns rolling a die in order to determine how many spaces to move a game piece. Players compete to move game pieces to the opposing player&#39;s base zone wherein the game pieces are promoted to kings. The kings must then be returned to the player&#39;s base zone in order to win the game. Jack pieces are further provided to inhibit the path of opposing players so as to add an additional strategic element to the game.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/152,104 filed on Apr. 24, 2015. The above identified patent application is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety to provide continuity of disclosure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to board games. More specifically, the present invention provides a multi-player board game wherein players must compete to be the first to move game pieces from a base zone, to the opponent's base zone, and back to the player's base zone.

Board games are commonly played by people of all ages for the pleasure and enjoyment of the players. Board games can be played by adults and allow adults to play games against children to provide a family friendly activity. However, conventional board games may be overplayed and many players may lose interest in repeatedly playing the same game.

Further, many board games are adapted for play between only two players. As a result, such games cannot accommodate larger groups, or additional players must simply wait their turn, which can be undesirable. Thus, a game that can alternately be played between two or more players is desired to provide flexibility and to accommodate various numbers of players.

Devices have been disclosed in the prior art that relate to board games. These include devices that have been patented and published in patent application publications. These devices generally relate to checkers and chess based board games, such as U.S. Pat. No. 8,657,289, U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,279, U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,768, U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,193, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,981.

The devices in the prior art relate to board games that have elements similar to chess and/or checkers and that utilize various different playing surfaces. Such board games, however, fail to disclose a hexagonal playing surface with a plurality of connected spaces wherein players compete to reach the opponent's base zone and then return his or her game pieces to the player's base zone.

In light of the devices disclosed in the prior art, it is submitted that the present invention substantially diverges in design elements from the prior art and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to existing board game devices. In this regard the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of board games now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new board game wherein the same can be utilized for providing convenience for the user when playing a unique and competitive board game than can be played by two or more players. The board game preferably comprises a hexagonal game board having a playing surface with a plurality of spaces thereon. The spaces are connected by lines to one or more additional spaces and indicate the path of travel of game pieces on the board. The board game includes three types of game pieces, including queens, kings, and jacks. The player begins with a predetermined number of queens and a predetermined number of jacks, wherein the player's goal is to move the queens to the opposing player's base zone in order to promote the queens to kings. The player must then be the first player to return his or her kings to the player's base zone in order to win the game.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

Although the characteristic features of this invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims, the invention itself and manner in which it may be made and used may be better understood after a review of the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like numeral annotations are provided throughout.

FIG. 1 shows a top-down view of the game board.

FIG. 2 shows a view of the game pieces.

FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of gameplay.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference is made herein to the attached drawings. Like reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to depict like or similar elements of the board game. For the purposes of presenting a brief and clear description of the present invention, the preferred embodiment will be discussed as used for playing a game with two or more players. The figures are intended for representative purposes only and should not be considered to be limiting in any respect.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a top-down view of the game board and a view of the game pieces, respectively. The game board 11 comprises a playing surface 12 on which players can move game pieces 21, 22, 23. In the illustrated embodiment, the game board 11 comprises a hexagonal shape, wherein all sides of the hexagon are the same length. However, in alternate embodiments, the game board 11 may have other numbers of sides to provide a different shaped game board. Thus, in alternate embodiments, the game board 11 is an octagon. Preferably, the game board 11 has an even number of sides.

A plurality of spaces 13 are positioned on the playing surface 12 in the shape of the hexagon, so that the spaces 13 are the same shape as the game board 11. The plurality of spaces 13 are arranged in a grid so that the playing surface 12 is fully covered by the plurality of spaces 13. In the illustrated embodiment, each side of the hexagon comprises ten spaces 13, however, in alternate embodiments, the sides of the hexagon may have additional or fewer spaces 13 so as to increase or decrease the size of the playing surface 12.

Each space 13 is connected to one or more additional spaces 13 by lines 15, wherein the game pieces can only move between spaces 13 that are connected by a line 15. Preferably, the lines 15 are arranged so that a game piece on a central space can move to any of six other spaces. A game piece on a space on the edge of the game board can move to any of four other spaces. A space on a corner of the game board can move to three other spaces.

The playing surface 12 further comprises a base zone 14 positioned at each corner of the playing surface 12. The base zone 14 is shown as having a four by four grid of spaces 13. The base zones 14 serve as the starting position for each player. The playing surface 12 also comprising jack zones 18 that serve as the starting position for jacks 22. Preferably, each base zone 14 has a corresponding jack zone 18 that indicates where the player should position his jacks at the start of the game. Each base zone 14 and jack zone 18 preferably comprises a single color so as to allow the user to easily identify the corresponding zones.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown a flowchart of the gameplay. In operation, each player positions his or her queens in a base zone 30 on a corner of the game board. Preferably, players arrange their game pieces in bases that are on opposite sides of the playing surface. Each player also arranges his or her jacks in the jack zone 31 corresponding to the base zone that the player selected. The kings are not positioned on the board and are saved for later use.

Players take turns rolling a single die to determine how many spaces to move their game pieces across the board 32. Preferably, the die is a conventional six-sided die, and the die is rolled once per turn. The number on the die indicates the number of spaces the player may move a single game piece. In alternate embodiments, the player may move one or more game pieces such that the total number of moves adds up to the number on the die. Thus, if the player rolls a five, he or she can move a first piece two spaces and a second piece three spaces, if so desired.

The game pieces may move on the game board by moving between spaces connected by a line. If a game piece is impeding the player's path of travel, the player may “jump” the obstructing game piece and proceed to the next space. The player may only jump a game piece if the space after the obstructing game piece is unoccupied, thus the player may not jump two game pieces arranged on adjacent spaces and must instead travel around the obstructing game pieces.

The jacks serve as defensive pieces and cannot be promoted. The jacks can be moved so as to impede the opposing player's movement. The jacks help the player to prevent the opposing player from reaching the player's base while the player attempts to move his own pieces to the opposing player's base.

Each player attempts to move his or her queens into the opposing player's base zone 33. When a queen reaches the opposing player's base, the queen is promoted by replacing the queen with a king 34. The player must then move the kings back from the opposing player's base zone to the player's base zone 35. The first player to have all of his queens promoted to kings and then returned to the player's base zone wins the game.

It is therefore submitted that the instant invention has been shown and described in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art. With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention. 

I claim: 1) A board game, comprising: a playing surface having a five or more sides; said playing surface further comprising a plurality of spaces on which a game piece can be positioned; each of said plurality of spaces connected to one or more additional spaces via a line, wherein said line indicates a path of travel of said game piece; said playing surface further comprising a plurality of base zones, wherein each player is assigned to a single of said base zones; a plurality of game pieces for each player adapted to be moved on the playing surface. 2) The game board of claim 1, wherein said playing surface comprises a hexagonal shape, and wherein said plurality of spaces are arranged in a hexagonal shape. 3) The game board of claim 1, wherein said plurality of game pieces comprises queens, kings, and jacks. 4) The game board of claim 3, wherein said playing surface further comprises a jack zone adapted to indicate a starting position for a player's jacks. 5) A method of playing a board game, comprising the steps of: providing a playing surface having a plurality of spaces connected by lines, wherein said playing surface further comprises a plurality of base zones; providing a plurality of game pieces for each player, wherein said plurality of game pieces are movable between said plurality of spaces on said playing surface; rolling dice to determine the number of spaces a game piece can be moved; moving said game pieces between said plurality of base zones. 6) The method of playing the board game of claim 5, wherein the step of moving said game pieces between said plurality of base zones, further comprises the step of moving a game piece along said lines of said lines on said playing surface. 